Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 2, 2007 11:54:18 GMT -5

Two Washtenaw County Sheriff's sergeants face an internal department investigation for failing to arrest an off-duty deputy suspected of domestic abuse.

The two officers testified Thursday in a preliminary hearing for suspended Deputy David Glover, but were granted immunity from criminal prosecution for any statements they made in court.

The limited immunity granted by 15th District Court Judge Ann Mattson does not extend to the internal investigation under way to determine whether the officers violated department policy and treated Glover differently because of his status as a deputy, court documents show.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Joe Burke said his office asked for immunity because the sergeants, through their union attorneys, indicated they would not testify without it.

Sheriff's Sgt. Shawn Hoy and Sgt. Mike Mahalick, who are both on paid administrative leave, testified that they allowed Glover to leave the scene of a domestic disturbance at his girlfriend's Ypsilanti Township home last month and arrested him only after receiving a supervisor's approval when Glover returned to the home two hours later.

Glover was ordered Thursday to stand trial on a home invasion charge for kicking down the door to the home during a fight with his girlfriend of five years.

A former liaison officer at Ypsilanti High School and 11-year veteran of the department, Glover was suspended without pay and charged with domestic assault and tapping or cutting phone lines. A fourth charge of misdemeanor assault and battery was added Thursday following testimony that Glover pushed the woman.

Under questioning, Mahalick acknowledged that the preferred response to a domestic assault is to arrest the assailant, but said he never spoke directly to the victim and did not notice the damage to the front door of the home right away.

The victim's 13-year-old daughter testified Thursday that Glover kicked the door in after pounding with his fists for about 15 minutes despite repeated warnings for him to leave. The victim called 911, but Glover took the phone and pushed her, according to testimony.

Burke played portions of two calls to dispatchers around midnight where Glover and the victim can be heard angrily screaming at each other and using profanity. Glover sunk his head and rubbed his eyebrows with his fingertips while the tapes played.

It was unclear from the tapes and testimony what the fight was about, but the couple appear to have had a volatile relationship.

Court records show Glover was acquitted on a domestic violence charge but convicted for malicious destruction of property in 2004 after smashing out a car window with a golf club while woman and her friend were inside.

He was placed on probation at that time, court records show.

If convicted of home invasion, Glover faces up to 20 years in prison. The other charges are high-court misdemeanors.